Michelle Hong

About Michelle

Michelle is the Co-Founder of Rooftop Republic Urban Farming, a social enterprise creating more livable cities through urban farming. Their mission is to integrate closed loop urban farming systems into city lifestyle to improve the health and wellbeing of city dwellers by creating better access to fresh, local, organic vegetables and to nature. Rooftop Republic is committed to making cities greener and more sustainable by adding edible landscapes across the dense concrete jungles. Their urban farming solutions include urban farm set up, farm and community management and education, and transforming idling urban spaces in commercial buildings, schools, residences and restaurants into productive urban farms. Since their establishment in 2015, they have transformed 68,000 square feet of idling urban spaces, creating over 61 productive landscapes in Hong Kong and China, ranging from urban farms to vertical greens, indoor farming and agri-tech developments. Their clients include Swire Properties, Cathay Pacific, Bank of East Asia, The Landmark Mandarin Oriental and they have been featured in publications including the Financial Times, BBC, The New Yorker, SCMP and Monocle. Through the provision of services to their corporate clients, real estate developers, restaurants, hotels and schools, Rooftop Republic has been able to benefit local organic farmers by engaging them as instructors and urban farm maintenance farmers, increasing their revenue sources and incomes. Rooftop Republic has also established programming to benefit people from disadvantaged communities or with disabilities including training hearing-impaired individuals to become urban farmers and with the intent to equip them with skills for employment in the urban farming and landscaping sector. Michelle holds a Bachelor of Communication Studies with Specialization in Communication Research from Nanyang Technological University and has a Certificate in Horticultural Therapy. She specializes in marketing, communications, digital marketing and project management.

What Michelle hopes to gain from the VV GROW Fellowship:

Michelle is looking forward to gaining access to an international network,further developing her business skills and exploring different models of impact businesses. She hopes to connect with fellows from different cultures and industries and learn from their experiences with managementand team building, and their entrepreneurship journey. She is especially interested in connecting with other businesses that empower disadvantaged communities, as well as businesses that have transformed or reinvented traditional business models or industries into new and disruptive models.

What Michelle can offer other fellows:

Having worked in two leading financial and urban hubs of Hong Kong and Singapore, Michelle would be happy to share her insights and learnings. She can also offer her experience in marketing and communications.

Connect with Michelle on Social Media:

Website: www.rooftoprepublic.com

Facebook Page (business): www.facebook.com/RooftopRepublicUrbanFarming

Instagram (business): @rooftop_republic

Instagram (personal): @mii.shh

LinkedIn (business): https://www.linkedin.com/company/rooftop-republic-co.-ltd